QOTD: Multi-tasking?
10 November 2009 by Shaun
13 Comments
How important is multi-tasking to you? This is a difficult one for me because I rarely need it, but when I do it is mightily handy. The iPhone does noot have it, but most other smartphones do so would this alone proclude you from going the iPhone route?
Multitasking is essential, which is one of the primary reasons I just can’t use an iPhone.
Consider this scenario: You have your instant messaging application opened and are chatting away with someone. He/She asks you if you are free for lunch. You want to have a quick glance at your calendar application and then return to your chat.
Sounds simple enough, but the iPhone just can’t do it while all other platforms can. Perhaps your friend sent you a link to check out. You can’t launch the browser, calendar, or any other application without your IM app closing.
I think the second proper iteration of the iPhone must have multi-tasking. I can get by without it, but there are occasions when it would be really nice to do the things Jason talks about. It can only become more important as time goes on and as twitter/IM on your smartphone become essential and rather than being a nice extra feature.
I don’t multitask much anymore on any of my devices, but using Push on the iPhone is a pretty decent work around so you can do both the things Jason mentioned. That way if someone sends an IM or tweet, you get pop up, no matter what else you are doing.
In my case narrowing down Multitasking to “push notifications” i would love Multitasking. Because 3G\GPRS coverage isn’t always reliable in my area Push Notifications are also not reliable. Next to that I second Jason’s post and that’t the reason I’m looking for an alternative for my iPhone.
None. None at all. Not a sausage.
It’s a poor mans alternative really Philly-D. There’s too much slowdown and freezing on the iPhone at the moment too.
Ever since I use PalmOS I managed without multitasking, in spite of some applications that in fact do multitasking like playing MP3 in the background while doing anything else, etc… but I installed some “hacks” to provide me with that wonderful world of running an application on top of another. It worked perfectly. Presently I don’t need multitasking, but I agree that sometimes it would be much appreciated. As Jason and Philippa say, the need to use social networks and keep logged in is increasing and we sometimes have to open another application. So, in the near future, all systems must deal with multitasking. I’m sure the iPhone will have it in the next release.
I have it in my WinMob device and it works ok. Current devices already have bigger memories and better memory management, so it isn’t a problem anymore.
The whole point of faster CPUs is to enable multi-tasking. This allows for greater flexibility. Not having multi-tasking is why Palm had so many issues with Garnet (i.e. usability). The main reason I would not get an iPhone is that it is not a good phone and I can’t replace the battery myself. Its a great web/media device and I am not sure multi-tasking is an issue if you just want a web browser/media player.
I have to admit that I usually have several apps open and switch between them to exchange information etc. The Palm did OK without it, and I haven’t played enough on the iPhone to know whether it works well enough without it. What I did seem to miss was some kind of home screen where at a glance one could see up coming appointments and other useful info.
Multi-Tasking is very important to me as I can be streaming live video through while typing up an email or tweeting (need a better phone though). Switching out to my calendar when in the middle of a phone is pretty important as well.
95% of the time, the iPhone does all the multi-tasking I need. Of course, the phone part always runs in the background, so I can switch between email, notes, safari, Google Maps etc. without a hitch while in the middle of a call. Music, audiobooks, podcasts etc. play in the background, too, as do http audio streams. Task switching is so fast on my 3GS that I can see little benefit to having a whole host of apps running in the background, when switching between tasks takes so little time. A GPS app I use to track my daily hikes with my dog easily lets me resume tracking my walk after being interrupted by a phone call.
In truth, the only aspect of multi-tasking I really miss is the ability to listen to radio apps like Pandora in the background.
Messed up the tags again. Doh!
Oh, I thought stuff would work much the same on the iPhone as the iPod Touch (which I have) but I guess not having the phone functionality and running off wifi not 3G must make a difference
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